Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 3 4 5

Original poster

to think it should be financially rewarding not to fly

105 replies

blameitonthecaffeine · 31/03/2022 17:28

I know there's probably no way round it but it annoys me that not flying is so much more expensive than flying.

After 2 years of not going abroad, I felt too guilty about the environmental impact to jet off again this summer so we've booked a holiday in Greece and are going there via trains and ferries.

Per adult, (children cheaper obviously) it has cost me around £350 for the train tickets and £140 for the ferry. So total £490.

I had a look at flights and a cheaper end (but direct) flight, with add ons of hold luggage and booking the seats would have been about £175 per person.

I'm very fortunate that I can afford this choice but really, it's hardly surprising that flying is so popular is it?!

Is there a way of making other transport options cheaper do you think or is it just the way it has to be?

I'm not even sure trains are that much better than planes after all this faff, time and money! It's 48 hours of travelling instead of around 4 for a start! Although we can see interesting places on the way (and build up more costs with additional nights accommodation!)

OP posts:

DdraigGoch · 31/03/2022 22:36

I'm refusing to be defeated though. I might manage it by adding extra time at the start of the trip, so I'll get in touch with a colleague to see if I can swap rest days. She owes me a favour.

crackofdoom · 31/03/2022 23:10

I get the impression that trains are better in Montenegro...I was reading the Balkan section of Seat 61 the other day. Does it have to be Bosnia?

(Digressing even further from the original topic, there's a new walking trail called Peaks of the Balkans that spans Albania, Kosovan and Montenegro. Two out of those three countries didn't even exist when I was growing up!)

crackofdoom · 31/03/2022 23:14

(I wonder if the old Venice- Athens train, via Zagreb, Belgrade and Skopje still runs? Did that in 1990, before the war. Definitely one for the memoirs 😆).

RachelAshleyWasGuilty · 01/04/2022 00:57

You've sent me down a rabbit hole, and got me all excited!

I used the 3 day interail pass many times in my youth, to get around France....I was delighted when I've just checked, it would be only £236 for the 5 of us to go all the way to Nice, maybe a day in Paris, maybe a side jaunt somewhere for a few days....

However, the cost of getting us all to France from Liverpool is at least twice that! Eurostar is only from St Pancreas, and it doesn't appear you can add in the domestic option any longer.

Any tips on getting to Paris cheaply?

Many years ago I used to get the overnight coach to London, and there was a really cheap train ferry combo, which unfortunately doesn't seem to exist anymore!

The alternative seems to be driving and catching the Dover/Calais ferry the parking up! Which I really wanted to avoid.

Any pearls of wisdom?

nonevernotever · 01/04/2022 07:32

I feel your pain having just spent £660 on two return train tickets (with a disabled Railcard that gets you a hefty discount) to travel from Edinburgh to Cornwall . Flights worked out as much the same price.

crackofdoom · 01/04/2022 08:34

RachelAshley you're entitled to one trip in your country of residence each way. So, Liverpool- London and vice versa is INCLUDED 😊

crackofdoom · 01/04/2022 08:36

With an Interrail pass, that is. But £236 for 5 sounds strangely cheap...? 🤔

crackofdoom · 01/04/2022 08:40

nonever yes, there was an event in Glasgow I wanted to attend in February. It would have been £270 return from Cornwall, and I would have had to miss the whole Sunday to travel, too 😢. But I checked the flights for comparison, and they would have been no cheaper. It seems to me that the days of really really cheap flights are ending - but ideally we want the price of trains to go down to compete with flying, rather than flights going up!

SunscreenCentral · 01/04/2022 08:45

Delighted to have found this thread! The 10% discount on rail passes has been extended to April 10th I think if that's useful for anyone.
Still trying to figure out if it's worth buying the pass or not.
We (ds & I) are doing Split-Zagreb-Ljubljana-Lake Bled-Munich-Paris-Tours by train this summer.

NdefH81 · 01/04/2022 08:46

* OK, waking hours vs flying- now, this is just for me: Flying: Drive to station half an hour, train to Bristol 3.5 hours, bus Temple Meads- Bristol Airport half an hour, allow 2 hours for a short haul international check in. Flight 3 hours 15. 45 minutes to clear security , and I have no idea where Nice airport is relative to the town, but let's say at least half an hour on an airport bus to get into the centre. That's 11 hours.*

So when you factor in like for like given the all the additional factors you mention above, which will all cost… still markedly cheaper? @crackofdoom

DdraigGoch · 01/04/2022 09:14

@nonevernotever

Crosscountry is always an expensive option (the SRA quango back in the early 2000s wouldn't let them order extra coaches so they've been forced to price people off ever since). Even so, I can't work out why you've paid so much, I'm being quoted around £350 for two adults using a Disabled Railcard. And that's for walk-up travel.

darlingdodo · 01/04/2022 09:19

Live in Scotland and occasionally have to travel to London to work. Have asked the dept who organise travel to see if they can put me on a train, but it always ends up costing ££££ more, and is more faff to organise, so I fly every single time.

crackofdoom · 01/04/2022 09:20

Nde You're right. The train already was markedly cheaper for this journey, without me adding in the price of the Bristol airport bus (a tenner I think), and however much transport from Nice airport into Nice is. So yes, comparatively even cheaper! 😆

crackofdoom · 01/04/2022 09:30

Sunscreencentral that's excellent, and now I feel a bit less guilty about helping to derail it somewhat (derail! HA! 😆)

Your trip is giving me inspiration for maybe taking the DC interrailing next summer.

AChocolateOrangeaday · 01/04/2022 09:33

I get free train travel in the UK and most of Europe thanks to my former career and DH's present one.

We much prefer and will continue to fly.

Our time is too valuable.

DdraigGoch · 01/04/2022 09:34

@NdefH81

So when you factor in like for like given the all the additional factors you mention above, which will all cost… still markedly cheaper? @crackofdoom

Bristol to Nice flights start at £97 return, but if those particular dates are no good for you then prices quickly escalate to £250. That's before Easyjet have stung you for wanting to travel with any luggage (can you get a week's worth of clothes under your seat? If not then it's another £30 to put a bag in the overhead lockers, or £60 in the hold). It will also cost around £100 for the poster to get to/from Bristol Airport.

An Interrail Global Pass will cost £246 for four days of travelling within a month. You do also need to pay for reservation fees (€35 for Eurostar, €5 or so for TGV) but that still works out cheaper than flying.

uggmum · 01/04/2022 09:41

We used to go by train to the South of France every year.
Direct train from St Pancras to Avignon. ( we live in Yorkshire, so a 2 hour train to London and an overnight stay)

We would hire a car in Avignon and drive to the coast.

On the way back we would take a different train and stop in Paris for a few days.

The journey would take 2 days. It was more taxing to organise than flying.

We then started flying there and it was so much quicker. About the same price as the train. But I could fly from my local airport in less than 4 hours. Less holiday from work as no extra travelling days.

There are many ways to make lifestyle changes to offset the climate impact of air travel. The convenience of air travel outweighs the train for me these days

crackofdoom · 01/04/2022 09:53

DdraigGoch £186 for a 4 day pass at the moment! 🤪 That's down to the current discount, but I think otherwise it's £205....?

Also, I don't know what cancellation/ refund policy is like on flights at the moment, but you can use the Interrail pass at any point over the next 11 months (until you make your first journey). Don't know if the reservations can be refunded yet though- hopefully I won't have to find out 😒🦠 (that's supposed to be a Covid emoji!)

crackofdoom · 01/04/2022 10:06

DdraigGoch yes, a great deal of the convenience of the Interrail pass for me is that I'm very, very restricted in the times I can travel. It's very rare for the ex to have the kids long enough for me to have a decent holiday, and when he does it's always in the school holidays. So I can never shop around for the cheapest journeys. Interrail is a flat price plus flat reservation fees, whenever you travel. That's something else to factor into consideration.

Although, warning- this does mean that the fixed number of reservations can run out on busy days. Obviously a company like Eurostar is going to prefer to sell as many top whack tickets as possible and as few £25 Interrail passes as possible on busy days.

Which is why I'll be arriving at the Gare du Nord at 11.30pm on the journey out - it was the only train I could get a reservation on 😬

(Still 100x better than wandering round Beauvais Airport at that hour, hoping I haven't missed the last Airport bus to take me the 60 miles into Paris. Which drops you off at Porte de Villette, IIRC. Nice 😬)

NdefH81 · 01/04/2022 10:09

@crackofdoom

So all good

RachelAshleyWasGuilty · 01/04/2022 10:55

@crackofdoom

With an Interrail pass, that is. But £236 for 5 sounds strangely cheap...? 🤔

Just checked again and it's actually €296 today.

DC travel free as under 12.

I'm going to keep on having a mooch around to see what options we have... I'm a poor mature student, I'm thinking can I cope with the 3 on them on my own? I take them for slightly more extended trip as I will be time rich over the summer (even if I'm cash poor) DH can only can take normal annual leave....

to think it should be financially rewarding not to fly

RachelAshleyWasGuilty · 01/04/2022 11:12

@crackofdoom

RachelAshley you're entitled to one trip in your country of residence each way. So, Liverpool- London and vice versa is INCLUDED 😊

Yay! Just realised I was only looking at the single country ticket, rather than the global pass.

You never used to be able to use your interrail ticket in your own country of residence! (really showing my age now)

I'm supposed to studying.....or doing housework, rather than remembering waking up in biarritz, stumbling off the coucherett, grabing a fresh croissant and watching the sunrise on the beach....

Hayisforhorse · 01/04/2022 11:19

Yes it's bonkers. I need to get to Glasgow in a few weeks. The Easyjet flights would come to about £160, the train return is over £400.

AffIt · 01/04/2022 11:36

I agree.

I travel regularly between Scotland and London for work and prefer to get the train, but the price is horrific.

crackofdoom · 01/04/2022 11:37

RachelAshley For a moment there I was like "YOU MEAN THERE'S A 3 DAY GLOBAL PASS AND I JUST BOUGHT A 4 DAY ONE FOR A 3 DAY JOURNEY???"

But I thiiiink the global passes- as opposed to the single country ones- start at 4 days 😬

I, too, should be working 😆

Flip

1 2 3 4 5

Swipe left for the next trending thread